Bachelor King 2: Will You Not Dance With Me?
by creativeKing95
Summary: The school dance is coming, and Spiny wants to be Lilia's date. However, he gets terribly nervous and has little time to prepare. Will he be able to handle the enormous pressures? And when the moment comes, will he have the courage to tell Lilia his feelings? Will she accept?
1. Chapter 1

I love those little rubber bouncy balls that you can get for 25 cents. I had a turquoise-colored one. Well, I have one. Present tense.

I'm bouncing it in this scene. My dad gave it to me when I was three. I made my first spoken sentence that day. I said, "I love you," or something like that. Cute, huh?

It was two weeks after school had started. The date: September 8, 2014. I was in my office. Just finished lunch, and, with nothing to do, I just started bouncing my ball. I'd done 83,659 bounces in a row when suddenly, the phone rang.

I'd been so concentrated on bouncing that the noise startled me and…well, okay, it scared the heck out of me and I might have, uh, screamed a little. Anyways, I jumped and accidentally sent the ball speeding towards my desk lamp. Crash! A thousand pieces of glass shards.

I walked slowly over to the mess. "Oops," I said out loud. I, uh, very gently pushed the mess under the table with the end of my tail.

Yes, I'm in dinosaur form.

Anyways, once the glass was no longer visible. I sat down and answered the phone. "Hello, King Spiny here." It was my cousin, Patty. "Hello? Spiny?" Patty's sort of old-fashioned. She doesn't use a cell phone. She uses a regular, 60's style house phone that's in her room. Well, her room and Kathy's. They share a …this is sort of obvious, right?

Anyways, where were we? Phones. Oh, yes. In my Palace, we still have the kind of phones where you pick up the phone and say, "Operator, get so-so." It's kinda nice and brings us the spirit of those times but that's not what I was saying. You really get me distracted, you know? Just for that, get your nose in the corner and stay there for an hour.

Wait a second, how can you read the story if you're in the corner? Okay, serve your punishment when you finish the story or right before going to bed.

Anyways, it was my cousin and adoptive daughter, Patty. So, I said, "Hiya, gal." Gal is my personal endearment for Patty. That's what I call her. I call Kathy "Princess." Rob's is "Robby." And Greeny's is…well, that is his endearment. Gredard is his real…let's move on.

Anyhow, after I answered, I said, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," she said, with her obvious yet subtle Scottish accent. "You're not too busy, are you?"

"Oh, uh, ah, no, no." I didn't have any desire of telling anyone about the, uh, Ball-and-Desk Incident. So I answered with humor. "I was drawing out my plan to elope with Lilia and never be heard of again." Say, that wasn't a bad idea. Cough, I mean uh…

Patty knew I was joking, of course. "Oh, Spiny. You have just vivid imagination."

I like to kid around. I especially like to make nice, beautiful girls laugh. Unless I've just been singing karaoke and my voice breaks. Or when I walk in front a group of gals during the winter when I'm wearing my leather Sherlock Homes-style raincoat and they laugh at how ridiculous I look. I like to make girls laugh 'cause they think I'm cute or charming, not because I'm pathetic.

But the point is, I like to kid around. But not too much. Balance is the key to everything in this life. Joke around girls too much and they'll run from you like you got the Black Death disease. Girls like a guy with a sense of humor, but also a sense of seriousness.

Why the heck am I talking about this when I have a story to tell? Let's resume. Sorry about the interruption.

After Patty appreciated my joke, I said, "So, what is it?"

"Well," she said. "You know how the school dance is next week?"

"Yep."

"Well, I'm here in the principal's office and well, he wanted to talk to you?"

"HUH?!" Why is it that, anytime the principal calls for you your stomach gets sour and your heart beats so bad your ribcage gets shivery? The first thing that pops in your mind is "What did I do?" And even though you haven't done anything bad, you feel guilty.

"Oh…um…all right. It's okay, I guess."

A little minute of silence. Then, Mr. Anderson's voice. "Ah, young man, Spiny!"

"Well, gee, how are you Mr. Anderson, uh, sir?" I managed to answer.

"I hope I am not interrupting something important, Your Majesty?"

"No, not at all. How can I help you?"

Gulp. Here it came. Was he going to give me detention for refusing to go to the dance with his sniveling, sneaky daughter, Kylie? Even after she asked me so many times I almost yelled at her and pulled her hair?

I'm naturally gentle and warm and friendly with girls. It just comes naturally to us guys. Well, not before adolescence. Before adolescence we guys think of girls as, uh, an invasive species. Kathy tells me girls think the same of us guys. But after adolescence, thing take a 180® turn. We suddenly treat each other with the same qualities I mentioned before.

However, like with everything, there are exceptions. Even though I've won the Guinness World Record for "Best Looking Young Man Under Age of 21" every year since 1969, and I have millions of young female admirers—boy I sure hope Lilia's one of them—I do know that not all girls like me.

I happen to know that some don't like my scientific capabilities. Or maybe they think I'm a show-off.

Anyways, it works the other way around. If a girl acts persistent and makes a pest of herself and makes fun of a guy's Actual Love Interest, then you can bet all the money in the world that the guy will shut her out completely. Like she doesn't even exist. That's what I do with Kylie.

Anyways, after I asked Mr. Anderson what favor I could for him, he said, "Would you pick the theme for the school dance next Friday?"

"…." Me? Pick the theme? I'd never have that honor before. This could be fun. Better than taking You-Know-Who to the dance.

"Well," I said, after finding my voice. Then I had an idea. It was a theme I've seen in numerous TV shows and movies and stories, but had never seen in a real life school dance. "How about an 'Under the Sea' theme?"

He was quiet for a minute then, "All right. We'll do it."

He hung up and I returned to work. School dance. Dance. Yes, dance I said to myself. It's next Friday. You've had two weeks to ask Lilia out to the dance and you've just walked around that school building like a dang fool! I mean, Lilia was INCREDIBLY beautiful. Well, is. Strangely, before the 8th grade, no guy ever noticed her. And now, all of the sudden, every other guy was drooling over her. Not actually over her. It's just a metaphor that means…I think you know. I'd heard from Kathy and Dimetroodon that, literally 64 different guys had asked her. Good thing was she'd said no every time.

I had to act fast. But, I like to things one at a time. I had eleven days.

Then, I had an idea! Hmm. What if…

I grabbed my iPhone and texted my sister. I really hoped she was in lunch, and not in class. Anyways, I texted this message: "Hey! U busy?"

A few minutes later, response: "Not really. Just had lunch. What's up?"

"U got Lilia's #?"

"Y?"

"Going to ask her out 2 to Arnold's."

"Gr8t idea!" Then she sent me Lilia's number.

I looked at the clock on the computer screen. I had about three minutes before she had to go back to class.

Without hesitation, and in a dreamlike and surreal way, I started dialing her number on my iPhone. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello?" Her sweet, innocent voice echoed through my eardrums like when a tuning fork strikes metal.

I quietly cleared my throat. "Hello," I said, trying to keep my voice from breaking.

I thought I heard a soft gasp. "Spiny?"

How did she know it was me? "Uh, yeah. Lilia?"

"Um, yes. I'm surprised you called me. How'd you get my number?"

"Oh, uh, Kathy gave it to me."

"Oh." There was a silence. "Well, can I help you with anything?" Man, the way her voice sounds when she asks questions! Even that seems pretty about her.

My mind raced. "Can you meet me at Arnold's after school? You know, uh, a little snack?"

"Uh…well, I, uh, I don't know if I ought to. I mean, I don't have money."

"I'll pay for us both."

"Oh…well…"

Oh, please say yes I pleaded silently.

"Okay," she said and I just about fainted.

"How about 4:10?"

"Okay. It's a date then. Bye." HUH?! A date? Now, wait a minute! A date is…on the other hand…dates don't have to be formal to be romantic. Score! I said to myself. That's the way to do it.

At that moment, the desk phone rang. It was Larry. "What is it?"

"Come on down to the lab, please."

"Okay, be right down." I don't really take orders from Larry. But when says to meet him in the lab, it usually means he's made an incredible discovery or an amazing invention. And I like to be the first one to find out. Didn't take me more than twenty minutes to get to the lab.

The lab, as I mentioned in the first story, is an underground room, which means no windows. It has a five-inch iron door. Inside, there's about a half dozen super-powerful supercomputers.

There's test tubes, microscopes, 3D simulations, webcams, phones, and weapons-testing procedures. There's only like seven or so people working there.

So anyways, I walked in. (I was in dinosaur form here, since I ended my conversation with Lilia.)

The first person I saw was my cousin. No, not Patty. This was an actual, dinosaur cousin. My late father's nephew.

He's a Suchomimus. His name is Rudy.

"Hey, dude!" he said when he saw me.

"Howdy," I answered. We gave each other the secret handshake.

"Oh, just great," he answered. Rudy lives on the northern side of Sauropolis. He's in 7th grade, yet, also works for me.

He lives with his parents and is an only child. His father, you should know, is very abusive and mean. Yells, throws things, curses and swears things like that.

Anyways, I walked to other side of the room, where Larry was sloshing some strange, multi-colored liquids back and forth between test tubes.

"All right. What is it?" I said.

"Just wait and watch," he answered without looking at me. He kept mixing the liquids till he got a perfect shade of magenta. Then, he placed the liquid in a glass beaker and over a small flame.

After a few seconds, he poured the liquid in a glass cup. Then, he held it close to me. "Drink this."

Excuese me? Me? Drink that? That? No way! "Why should I?" I mean, hello! Nobody forces King Spiny to do anything.

"Just do it."

Suspicious, don't you think so?

"Oh, all right. But if I die, I'll hold you personally responsible." That didn't make sense, right? I mean, how could you hold someone responsible for your death when you're already dead?

Larry didn't notice apparently.

I drank the liquid. Tasted good, actually. Smelled sweet. Well, I drank it all.

"Okay, know what?"

"Congratulations, now you have the Invisibility Power."

"Huh?"

"Your first power. I'll give you more later on."

I stammered. "You mean, just like that? I can become invisible?"

"Yep. All you have to do is think invisible. Try it."

I thought invisible, like he said. I just thought the word. I felt a strange feeling came over me. Then I looked down at me…hey! Where was I? I couldn't see my arms or legs or my sail or my tail. I could feel myself but not see myself.

"I can't even see my shadow," I replied.

"Yeah, works like a charm."

I made myself visible. "Thanks, Larry."

"Sure thing. Just thought that I owe you one."

Actually we both owe each other a lot. I've given him brilliant ideas and suggestions. And he's saved my family and I on several occasions. Near-death occasions. I stayed a while longer, and then left to meet Lilia.

"Just don't go where you're not supposed to be," Larry said behind me.

I stopped and turned to look at him. "Like what?"

"Oh, like the ladies' room, your sister's bathroom, the girl's room during shower time…"

"LARRY!"

I left and ignored everything he'd said. How could he think such a thing?

Sometimes I think I'm surrounded by only two kinds of people: idiots and weirdos.


	2. Chapter 2

If I had my bike with me, I would've biked to the restaurant. I like to bike, even for long periods and on hard terrain. On ice, gravel, rocks, dirt, mud, sand, even water. Yep. Water. Anyways, Lilia has always gone to school on her bike as far back as I can remember. Since she moved in front of the Palace, she's always ridden her bike. Even on rainy days. How has she done it on snowy days? I wonder.

Anyways, the point is that she's never ridden the bus, and has never carpooled or been driven to school. And if I had by bike with me…I think you get the idea, so let's move on.

Anyways, I drove in TIV to meet her at Arnold's.

I stepped in and sat down at the third booth from the wall. The one in the middle. The same one I've sat at since the first time I went there when I was five.

At that moment, Al, the co-owner of the place showed up. The other owner is, well, Arnold. Obviously! They take weekly turns, see. Anyways, Al walked over to my booth. He's about 5'10". Has a huge nose. Thin eyebrows. Black hair. Gray eyes. Of Italian descent. "Well, Spiny, how are you? What would you like to have?" he asked, taking out a notepad and pencil.

I looked at my watch. It was 3:58 pm. Then, I changed to human form. I looked up to Al—I was sitting down and he was standing, see—and I said, "I'm waiting for someone. Could you wait ten minutes?"

"Oh, sure." Then, he walked to the booth behind me, taking orders.

While I waited I took my iPod Touch and played on a game you might have heard of: The Blockheads. I LOVE that game. It's so challenging. So much entertaining. Enjoyable.

I was in the process of crafting an armor bench for my Blockhead when I heard the door of the restaurant open.

You can't see the door from the booth. From where I sit anyway. I sat at the back wall booth section. The wall adjacent to the door has chairs and tables. And there is a counter also. Like a bar, except there's shakes and malts instead of tequila and beer.

Anyways, the point is I can't see the glass door from where I sit. Only the very top. So, I can't see who comes in unless it's a basketball player.

So I heard the door open. I turned to look and…had never such gorgeousness and loveliness in my whole life. The light reflected off her face in a dazzling way. I heard music in my mind. Slow, majestic romantic music.

I waved at her. She looked at me and smiled back. Oh my gosh! She was actually smiling! At me! My heart fluttered like a baby bird trying to fly.

Whoa! Where'd I pick up that phrase? I said to myself. To which my mind answered Who cares?! She's here. She walked up to my booth and sat across me. "Hi."

She had her hair in a headband. Sniff…hey...was that…I think she noticed it because she said, "Something wrong?" She seemed nervous.

"I smell…apricots!"

She got kind of jittery. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's my, my hair shampoo. I shouldn't have used it." Aha! That's why she was nervous when she noticed that I smelled it. I mean, I wasn't more than three feet away from her face.

Her soft-looking face, I thought. Those profound brown eyes. The long, chocolate-brown silky hair. The rosy cheeks. Her quivering lips. Her delicate hands.

Wait; hold it, stop, halt! I seemed to have, uh…made a complete dingbat of myself. Again. Anyways, uh, I noticed she got nervous. So I said, "Oh no! It's okay," I said, trying to reassure her. It smells…really pleasant, actually." I tried to put on my most friendly, charming smile.

Her cheeks turned pink. A perfect shade of pink. Exactly like a rose. Oh, I love to make her blush! She looks so cute. "Oh, thanks," she said, looking down. Then she looked up and blinked her eyes. "I like you hair shampoo smell, too. Watermelons, right?"

Oh no. Now, I was blushing. "Oh, yeah."

She smiled. Dang it, I got dizzy every time she smiled. "I like it."

"Thanks."

I was so concentrated in looking into her eyes so deep that I could see my reflection, that when Al came to take our order, I just about had a heart attack! And it didn't help that Al is, well, homely.

So anyways we ordered. I kept my promise, and like a gentleman, I paid for both.

Another FYI here. Here in Amarkia, we make our own version fast foods. We've found out a long time ago how to make fast foods as healthy as onion, lettuce, and apples, but without taking away the great flavor.

Our French fries, for example, have no carbohydrates, no fat, no cholesterol, low sodium, 6 calories, no oils, but also 53% Vitamin D, 86% Vitamin A, and 61% Vitamin C. And the ingredients are made the same day they are ordered. So, if you order a hamburger, you can bet that the cow was killed that same day. Oh, and livestock are free from hormones and antibiotics. And they eat their natural food.

But I won't tell you how we do it. Sorry, but that's classified.

Anyways, even though I paid for us both, Lilia insisted on paying the tip. This was about $1.25. I finally let her, but only on the condition that I would buy her five $0.25 gumballs.

Of course, she laughed. I love it when she laughs. It sounds so perfect and harmonious.

While we waited for our order to be ready, I decided to start conversation with the Girl of My Dreams. "So, how was your day?"

"Oh, the usual. Somebody put a garden snake in the Principal's desk."

I burst out laughing. "No, really?"

"And Kylie tripped down some stairs looking at herself in her purse mirror." She seemed to be holding back laughter. Have I mentioned that Kylie and Lilia detest each other? And when one suffers some misfortune…hee hee…the other one….ha ha ha…makes fun of her?

"Guess she had it coming, huh?" I said, not being able to hold back my own laughter. She nodded and laughed too.

Al arrived with our food. "Ah, here we are," he said setting down our plates and beverages. "That all?"

"Yeah, that's all," I said.

"Thanks, Al," said my princess…I mean, uh, Lilia. You didn't hear me call her My Little Princess so don't go making fun of me, cause you have no reason to…wait a second, did I just…yeah, I did…forget it.

I resumed our conversation. "Did you have soccer practice today?"

She shook her head. "No, not today. We, uh, had slight delays. All the girls went to the mall to buy last-minute dresses and making last-minute appointments at the beauty salon for the dance. You know how it is?"

I chuckled at that. "Believe me, I know. Kathy's driving me crazy for not letting her buy more make-up. And Patty's angry I won't take her to buy new dresses. She barely got one three weeks ago."

Well, anyways, I don't remember the rest, but I do remember that it was wonderful. Nostalgic. Unforgettable. And I also forgot the time. When I looked at my watch it was almost five thirty.

I drove her home, with her bike in the back. She'd never seen the inside of TIV before, so I gave her the tour speech I gave you in the first story.

Well, I stopped in front of the Palace Gates, carried her books in one hand, and, uh, escorted her across the street. Yes, it's a quiet street, and the speed limit is 20 mph. But still, you never know when some maniac will come speeding down the two-lane backstreet running at 60.

Okay. So maybe I held her hand. Well, actually, I just put my hand on her back, gently pushing her, just in case some maniac came, I'd be able to push her off the road. But it was enough to send static electricity all through my arm and my backbone.

When we got to the front door, she looked at me and smiled. "Thanks. For everything. I really enjoyed myself."

"Sure. I enjoyed your company."

We stood there quiet for a long time.

Don't just stand there like a dumb-bunny! I heard…Larry's voice?! Huh?

Larry? I answered in my mind.

No, it's Miley Cyrus. Of course it's me!

How are you…how can you…

Later, later. Ask her to the dance.

My response was quick. "Did you get a date for the school dance?"

"No. Just about every guy has asked me. But…" she looked down and blushed. "I guess I'm just waiting for the right guy."

Now was the time! I took a deep breath and calmed my raging nerves. "Do you want to go with me?" There, I said it.

Her eyes lit up and her face beamed like the sun. "I'd love to!" she said enthusiastically.

Yes! "All right. I'll pick you next Friday at seven"

"Okay."

Now what?! Should I shake her hand? Hug her? Kiss her? What? I wanted so badly to caress her check and put her head on my shoulder.

Almost without realizing, I grabbed her hand gently and slowly, and then just held it there.

We looked into each other's eyes and I could feel myself pulling towards her. I couldn't control it. It was like a dream. I was inches away from her face. I was so close I could feel her breath. I was so close to her that when the wind blew from behind her, her hair touched my cheek. Our lips were millimeters from each other.

"Spiny!"

HUH?

I heard a voice yell. "Spiny!" There it was again. I turned to look, and sure enough, I saw Larry through the Palace Gates, waving and jumping and hollering and making a complete idiot of himself and a fool of me.

Oh, drat!

I quickly pulled away from Lilia. "I have to go," I said quickly. My face felt hot. I was sweating a torrent of…sweat. Obviously. I was blushing so hard that I think that the artery in the middle of my forehead was showing.

Lilia's face had also turned deep red. Or should I say, beet reed. "Yeah. Sure. And, thanks. For everything." What happened next was unexpected. She hugged me. That's right. Threw her arms around me and pulled me in a quick, yet warm embrace.

Felt like the time Larry tricked me into sticking my finger in the wall outlet and he raised the voltage by 15 times.

I shuddered. I'd never been hugged by a girl before. Outside my family.

Then, she quickly grabbed her books and ran inside her house.

I walked back across the street and to the Palace. I felt….I don't know. Different, you could, say. It felt nice. Warm. Soothing.

Once inside the gates, and walked up to Larry. "What is it, Larry?"

He gave me a blank stare. "What's what?"

"Didn't you yell at me to get over here?"

"When?"

"A few seconds ago."

"I did?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Right now, you tuna!"

"What was the question?"

I let the air hiss out of my lungs and tried to control myself. Didn't work. "Listen, you pipsqueak, if you don't tell me the reason for why you interrupted a possible romantic moment with my True Love, I'm going to use your carcass as a basketball and make a slam dunk right into a live volcano!"

He tilted his head. "Oh, yeah! Come on down the the lab!"

Well, I followed hum downstairs through secret stairways and passageways.

Once inside, we walked over to the door on the east wall which said Spy Room in platinum letters.

We went inside and he walked over to a dark corner.

He turned on the lights. The walls were lined with weapons, gadgets, and other stuff. There were also large computer screens on the wall, showing maps of Amarkia, of the world, of the solar system, the Milky Way, the universe, and even of parallel universes.

Cool, huh?

Anyways, we walked over to an empty corner in the back. Then, he showed me a…huh?

"Well?" he said.

It was one of those large vans. Not a minivan or an SUV, just a regular, white van. Like those, white, rectangular ones kidnappers and terrorists use. Except this one wasn't white. It was blue with orange-and-yellow flames. No windows on the sides, except the passenger and driver seat windows. And the windshield, logically.

"I call it Bella," said Larry.

I gave him a wooden stare. "Bella? You named a non-living, over-sized van Bella?"

"Sure did."

"Are you sure you didn't mean, Great Spy Vehicle? GSV?"

"Nope. Just Bella."

I looked at, uh, Bella all over and checked it, her, it, whatever. I checked out the vehicle. "It's, um, wow, really something."

"You ain't seen the best part." He opened the back doors, stepped inside, and told me to join him.

I went in after him and….wow! I've seen spy cars before but this was…whistle! I'd never seen so many buttons and gadgets and levers and wires.

"Cool, huh?"

Took me a while to find my voice. I nodded. "Yeah, it's astonishing!"

"It's got everything. Time-travel, teleport, flight, stealth mode, you name it."

He continued saying that there was just about every kind of weapon you could imagine.

Laser-guns, built-in cannon, hooks and anchors for swinging, razor-sharp flying discs to disable enemy vehicles, robotic legs, a force field, an impact shield, jet rockets in the back, you name it.

And the tires could be instantly changed to go over dirt, mud, ice, water, quicksand, debris, acid, even lava, and uh…blood. Don't ask. The stories about my life won't all be roses and butterflies.

Some will truly scare the living daylights out of you. So if you wet the bed, don't blame me. And some stories will really be tragic and they'll make you cry hard. So hard that your eyeballs will dry up and you'll get the hiccups for two months.

Just fair warning, but how the heck did I get off subject again? This is really embarrassing. It's barely my second story and I can't even…

Wait! I got it. We were looking at Larry's new spy car. Vehicle. Whatever.

Really nice, by the way. Great piece of machinery.

Something caught my attention. We were inside, looking at all the cool, glowing buttons, when I saw one that got my attention. Huh. This one didn't have the picture of a bomb or a laser. It had a…laughing face?

"What's this one do?" I asked Larry.

"What do you think it does?"

"Um, shoots out laughing gas?"

He shook his head.

"Tickles you to death?"

"Nope."

"Makes you laugh and laugh until you die of asphyxiation?"

He shook his head again.

"Then what is it for?"

"Well, push it and find out."

I didn't like the way he was grinning, nor the way his beady little eyes were flashing.

Was this another practical joke? A childish prank?

Like I've said, I've been the victim of many childish pranks. I'm not only King of Amarkia; I'm also King of Prank Victims. Unofficially. And ninety-six percent of all the childish pranks played on me were credited to Larry.

The point is, Larry is a big practical joker. The Dinosaur Joke Machine. Like the time he put plastic wrap on the toilet seat. Or the time he put a stink-bomb in my desk. Or when he put salt in my coffee instead of sugar. Or when…I think you get the idea. But you see my point.

On the other hand, Larry is my best friend. We're like brothers. He's loyal. Fiercely loyal. He's never let me down and he's always there when I need him.

He's done so many good things for me, that I could never repay him. And he's taught me lots of cool and important things.

So, I figured He won't do anything to hurt me. I'll just press the silly button.

So, I did and...you know all the stuff I've just said about Larry being a good guy? Well, it's all nothing but garbage. Nothing but baloney! Nothing but rubbish!

You know that the "silly button" did?

Off all the backstabbing, double-crossing, cheating, two-bit, good-for-nothing, two-faced, pea-brained, empty-headed IMPRACTICAL jokes!

I'll only tell you what happened if you promise not to laugh laugh. You cannot laugh. It was not funny, and no, it was not hilarious, either.

It was stupid, that's what! That's the nicest way of putting it.

So, I pressed the button and, from nowhere, and I mean, out of thin air, something big and red and rubbery appeared and KA-POW! The over-sized glove socked me right on the nose!

One millisecond after impact I dropped to the ground like a wet towel on tile floor.

All at once I saw stars and checkerboards and pink elephants with umbrellas. I even heard birds chirping and cuckoo clocks!

I also heard…laughing? I traced it back to…aha! Yes it was…Mr. Sneaky. Mr. Wannabe-Comedian. He was rolling on the floor, laughing so hard I'd thought he'd cough up his liver.

As soon as my head cleared, I jumped him. I mean, I just nailed him! (I changed to dinosaur form.)

We had a good tussle. First, I bit him on the back, and then he bit me on the lower jaw. I pulled his tail and he pulled my sail. I scratched his belly and he scratched my leg.

That's when I heard the door opening. We spinosaurs have excellent hearing and I could hear the front door opening. Well, it was actually the Palace Gates. We both heard it.

As quick as mice, we went flying out of the spy room and the lab, raced upstairs and made ourselves presentable for my family.

If they found out about the…only disaster would strike and…just don't say anything to anybody.


	3. Chapter 3

We made it to the front door just in time. And not a second too soon. Too late. Whatever. The point is we got there on time.

Kathy, Patty, Robert, and Greeny walked in the front door, while I was, um, vacuuming the carpet. And Larry was…drinking lemonade on the chair.

"Spiny?!" Kathy said when she saw me.

I turned off the vacuum and looked up at her. "Hey, Kath."

She walked over to me, carrying her books in one hand. Why is it that some girls prefer to carry their school stuff in their hand and not in backpacks? I mean, I never knew a guy who didn't use a backpack. Except Larry. He's too lazy to carry them anywhere. You know what he does? He ties them to his tail and drags his books around with it.

Anyways, my sister said, "I thought you'd be home much later."

"Oh, well, I was, kind of tired, and decided to take the rest of the day off. I figured the country could run itself for another several hours without my help."

"Or mine!" said Larry.

Well, I said hi to the rest of them and asked them how their day had been. Kathy had wanted to go with her boyfriend Richard to the dance but couldn't for the simple reason that our school dance was for 8th grade and Richard was in the 10th.

"So, instead, I'm going with William."

"The captain of the boys' basketball team?" I asked. Well, I oughta say the captain of the basketball team. There's no girls' team. Don't know why. Don't ask me. Ask the school district. Anyways, he's the captain of the…moving on.

He's considered the 2nd-best looking guy at school. I don't think I need to say who is in 1st place. Heh heh. I love having that honor, but I don't abuse it, mind you. Anyways, that's William.

"Did you get a date?" Patty asked me. Were you man enough to ask Lilia out? That's what she was trying to say. But she's too polite for that.

"I asked Lilia and she said yes." I said it with pride. Dignity.

Kathy looked at me playfully and elbowed me. "Hey-hey-hey! I better get a sister-in-law dress. When's the wedding?"

One the one hand I didn't exactly appreciate her little joke. On the other hand, I didn't dismiss that possibility completely. I mean, really.

But I just played along. "I'll let you know when."

Well, Robert and Greeny went up to their room to do their homework, while Kathy, Patty, Larry, and I went down the hall to eat our afternoon after-school-but-before-homework-and-dinner meal.

"So did you get a date, Patty?" I asked.

Now, Patty's not as high on the social mark as Kathy. Or me, even. If we had a list of the top 200 most popular kids at our school, I'd be at, uh, Number One. I'm not bragging. Really, I'm not. I'm being honest. Ask anybody from the School Yearbook Committee.

Anyways, Kathy would probably at Number Six. Larry's at Number, um, 72. Dimetroodon is at 168. Rudy's at 35. And Patty's at 41.

I never understood why. I mean, Patty's a really nice girl. Oh sure, even though we're cousins, we don't always get along. Matter of fact, we don't agree on stuff about 38% of the time. But she's a likeable person. She's smart, capable, well-educated, and enthusiastic. And she's not bad looking. She was a way of tilting her head when asking questions that make some guys faint. I know it. I've seen it. And she's very formal.

On the other hand, she's not so social. At parties and dances all she does is serve fruit punch. Or talk with us. And she doesn't know how to dance anything that isn't waltz or native African dances.

So you can see her dilemma. Anyways, I asked her, "Did you get a date?"

She seemed uncomfortable. Struck me as odd. At that, Larry said, "I got a date, too!"

HUH?! WHAT. DID. HE. JUST SAY?! I looked at him and complete, total, absolute, and utter disbelief. "Excuese me?"

He beamed. Then Kathy said, "You? YOU got a date? Who would be the crazy one?"

"Yeah, who was the brave one who accepted your invitation?" I said, ready to make fun of the alleged girl.

Then I found out why Patty had seemed so uneasy. She raised her hand.

"You did?" I said.

"Well, it's just that Larry was so insistent."

"Yep," said Larry. "I was very in-sis-tent."

That's when I found out how it had all happened. Larry had asked Patty during the lunch break. Patty said what any girl would: "Uh, no." Larry pleaded. Patty said no again. Then, Larry went into his Scratched Disc Mode. That's when he repeats a phrase or word over and over and over and just keeps saying it. Like a scratched disc.

So, Patty went to her usual class. Guess who was in her desk, still saying , "Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please…" etc.

Then, she went to PE class. And there he was, underneath the stands. Still saying the same phrase.

You know what the goofball even did? He followed her into the girl's room. That's right. He went into the girl's locker room! He had "disguised" himself as a garbage can. He even wore a garbage lid as a hat. And finally, Patty said, "All right. I'll go. Now will you please let me change?"

After promising not to embarrass her, Patty left to change, and Larry was on his way out. He didn't, uh, make it out. Kylie got him, and she had the whole cheerleading team with them. Let's just say he was backed into a corner. Let's just say the cheerleading team suddenly became an army militia and they started beating Larry up so bad, it hurt his mind.

Well, that's what he said. Although I considered that part funny.

"So, who's gonna serve the fruit punch?" I asked.

She chuckled. "Who do you think?"

"Dimetroodon," Kathy said.

I expected that. He doesn't even like dancing. He can't even dance, so there.

Anyways, we got that cleared up.

A few hours later, it was, 7:57. Late evening. I was in my room, doing…I don't know. Don't remember. I was…oh, yes. I was practicing on my electric keyboard and on my guitar. I play those two instruments. I'm no Beethoven but I think I play decent.

Well enough to get an A+ at the music recital at the end of the semester. Anyways, I was playing on the guitar, going through some tunes, when my laptop went ding. You see, I had my IM account open and I'd been chatting with some friends.

I went over to check and guess who it was? If you guessed Dimetroodon, you're wrong. If you guessed Justin Bieber, you're wronger. I hate him.

If you guessed Lilia Woods, you're correct. As I would say, correctomundo! Lilia had sent me an IM. To me.

"You busy, Spiny?" That was her IM message.

I started typing back. "No. Just relaxing. And you?"

"Just had dinner. You?"

"Not yet. It'll be ready in a little while, I think."

"What you doing?"

"Practicing guitar."

"Oh, really! That's so nice. I didn't know you played instruments."

"Do you?"

"No. Wish I could."

Then, a light bulb switched in my head. "I could teach you. If you wanted."

"Oh, no! That'd be too much trouble."

"Of course not! What do you say?"

"Okay. How about Friday afternoon? At my house?"

"Sure. See you then."

"Bye. Sweet dreams."

Then, she logged out.

I sighed. I didn't know what to think. What are you supposed to feel or think?

Well, anyways, I turned off my computer and went to the kitchen to get chocolate milk and cookies. Decided to get my mind off the crushing responsibilities of being a head of family at the age of 14, of being a student, and of being a King.

It can wear you out after a while. You really need to be ready for all kinds of events and programs.

Let me tell you, being King of Amarkia is no walk in the park. You've got meetings and schedules and papers and conferences and security work and army training and taxes and…

Anyways, I went to get milk and cookies and went to eat in the dining room. All the other lights were turned out and I was the only one not doing homework, so I had some time to myself.

I often just think to myself and you know, sort of meditate on things. Sort of to, you know, reflex on stuff. My family, my job, my responsibilities, my friends, things like that. And of course, I think of my parents. I often remember the great times I passed with them. Sure, I get sad and cry, but I also feel happy that I had the chance to learn so much from my father. I'll never be as good as he was, but…well, a guy tries.

I was in deep thought when Greeny came in, his pajamas on. "Hi, Spiny."

"Hey, buddy!" I said.

I rubbed him on the head. "Ready for bed, huh? You brush your teeth?"

"Yep."

"Good, good."

"Spiny?"

"Yeah?"

"My friend Freddy says that if you let a penny get struck by lightning that means you'll get run over by a train. Is that true?" Whoa! Kids have such imagination, right?

I laughed at that, "Uh, no, Greeny. I don't think so." I gave him a goodnight kiss on the head. "Now, go on to sleep. You've got school tomorrow."

"How come you and Kathy and Patty get to stay up late?" That was actually a good question. Why did we? Hadn't quite thought of that.

"I don't know," I answered. I shrugged. "Don't worry, when you become a teenager, we'll let you sleep a little late, okay?"

"Okay." Little kids are usually satisfied with simple answers. That's good. Because when they ask the question, it becomes a great challenge. Let's change the subject. He said goodnight and ran off to his room.

After a while, I went up to say goodnight to everyone and went to my bed. As I lay there, I begin to think…about everything. Starting 8th grade, the dance, raising my family, ruling my country…my near-kiss with Lilia.

Sure a lot to think of. But of course, a lot to dream about, also.


	4. Chapter 4

It was on Friday afternoon. Early afternoon. It was around, oh, 3:19 pm. I was in the Palace. In my Personal Study Room, going over some reports. Larry wasn't with me. I'd send him out to go on expeditions to the Sky Valley Caves.

I know I've said this before, or maybe I haven't. In any case, that's where we get our sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, etc. We find all sorts of minerals found nowhere else on Earth. And that's where sometimes find super-power potions in their natural state. You can see why have a lot of enemies, right?

So, there I was, sitting at my desk, going over these routine reports. I was in dinosaur form. I was minding my own business, doing nothing out of the ordinary, bothering no one at all. In other words, what happened next was completely uncalled for. Totally uncalled for. What happened?

Don't laugh 'cause it wasn't funny.

You're used to people knocking on doors before coming in, right? Even people you know have the decency to knock at least once. Once. Anyways, all at once, the door burst open, slamming against the wall. I looked up and…this might be hard to believe, so just bear with me.

I looked up and saw, not someone from the family. Not a government official. And, unfortunately, not Lilia.

Description: five feet, six inches tall. Eight feet long from nose to tail. Arms with five terrible claws. A horrible face, with large teeth that had saliva and blood dripping. And did I mention two horns above the eyes? Yep.

My tail shot straight up and I felt my muscles get tense. My legs got wiggly and I, uh, squeaked. Okay, I got scared. And in the process of hiding under the desk I managed to bang my head against the cabinet file and almost broke my ankle. I heard…laughter?

I looked up and saw…guess who? Yep. Larry. He had a disguise on, and not being able to resist his constant childish temptations, decided to scare the liver out of me. After he was done laughing, he said, "What you doing, Spiny?"

I was so mad I could've made a hole right in the middle of his back! I would've settled for a hole in the middle of his head, but it was already empty. If you opened Larry's head from the top, there'd be nothing but an empty hole.

"Why you little…"was all I could say. I was too mad.

I finally thought of a word, but I won't say it 'cause this is intended for readers of all ages. Let's just skip it.

Still angry, I said, "What do you want?"

"Oh, right. Someone wants to see you."

I walked back to my desk and sat, still tense. You don't recover from scares that easily. "Who is it?"

"A close friend of yours. And of Kathy's."

"Then that means that you can't be the visitor, right?" Hee hee. His face looked as if he had just sucked on a lemon. "That's not funny," he said.

"Well, there's nothing funny about you." Got him again!

"Want me to bring her in?"

HUH? It was a girl?! But before I could even think, Larry said, "No, it's not the Future Queen of Amarkia." That was his nickname for Lilia. I searched through my memory for some other girl who might be a friend of mine…or Kathy's. Couldn't come up with anyone.

Well I didn't want to bother myself with details. I quickly changed to human form, combed my hair, straightened my clothes, and told Larry to let her pass. Don't get me wrong, here. My love is only for Lilia. But I guess it's just natural for a guy my age to want to look good for any girl.

Well, I waited and finally the girl came in. It was no ordinary girl. It was a tomboy. There's only one tomboy I know. "Darla?" I said, astonished.

"Hey, Spiny!" She ran over and hugged me. Kinda surprised me. She almost suffocated me. Her full name is Darla Baker. She's about five feet, 6 inches tall. Has blonde/light brown hair. Black eyes. Age: fourteen. Never wears make-up or dresses. Wears hats almost all the time, mostly baseball caps. And she always has her skateboard strapped to her backpack.

Oh, and she plays the synthesizer. Look that up in your spare time.

"What brings here?" I said. "How was your trip in Paris?"

"Oh, I wish you could've seen it. It's so amazing. It's just SO cool! They have the best skateboarding places anywhere on Earth!"

I shoved my hands into my pockets. "I assume you brought souvenirs?"

"Oh sure." She had been carrying a large duffel bag over her right shoulder. She brought it over to the desk. Larry and I looked as she unzipped it and started taking stuff out. "Oh, we took lots of pics. My Instagram account is, like, really full. I brought Patty a beret. And I got a straw flower hat for Kathy, a French art kit for Robert and a French model car for Greeny."

She kept digging through her stuff. "Ah, here we are. This is for Spiny," she said, taking something out. It was, medium-sized, black, heavy, and had long, wide glass lens. "A camera?" Larry said. I recognized it. It was a Canon EOS 70D. The best for landscape photography.

"Not just a camera. I was told that this is the best kind of camera to take pictures of landscapes and even of the sky." She handed it to me. I looked it all over. Wow. It was really something. "Oh, thanks, Darla."

"And for Larry…" she started going through her bag again.

"A retirement form?" he said.

"You wish!" I replied.

She took out an archery set. "This is for you," she said, handing it over to him.

Boy, you should've seen Larry's eyes. Ever seen a little girl when she gets a Cinderella dress? Or when a puppy gets an oversized bone? That's how Larry was.

He was looking at it all over. I said to Darla, "Aw, but really Darla, you didn't have to give us these gifts."

To which Larry said, "Yes, she did."

"And, I, uh, also brought something for Lilia."

That made my ears jump. "You did?"

She nodded, smiling. In case you're wondering, yes, Darla knows that I'm in love with Lilia. They're close friends. Anyways, turns out Darla brought her an alligator bag. No, that's not a bag in the shape of an alligator. That's a bag in the shape of a bag made with alligator skin. Just in case you get smart with me.

It doesn't really matter to me. Anything that helps rid the world of alligators, I'm for it.

"By the way, Patty tells me you're taking Lilia to the dance next week," Darla said.

I nodded. "That's right."

"That's nice."

"It's sweet," I said.

"It's icky," said Larry.

I stared at him. Look who's talking. Well, that wasn't my problem.

Speaking of which…I looked at my watch. It was 3:38 pm. "Say, speaking of my possibly future-girlfriend, I need to take a quick shower and change." Remember my, uh, musical lesson?

"You have a date with her?" Darla asked.

"No, I'm going over to give her guitar lessons."

"Oh," she said, nodding.

As I walked out the room, Larry said, "Hey, Spiny."

I turned around. "What?"

They both had crazy smiles. "Dootle-lee dootle-lee do do do!"

I squinted my eyes. "Oh, grow up, will you?!" Ignoring their snickering I went upstairs to shower.

I decided to use my watermelon-scented shampoo. After all, Lilia said she'd liked it, right? After I'd showered, I made sure to use plenty of deodorant. Made sure I washed my face, combed my hair just right, and brushed and flossed my teeth. And I gargled Listerine. Never can have your mouth too clean.

I also, got my cologne and sprayed some on my shirt and on my hands, where I rubbed them in. I put on a collared shirt. Not a formal one. It was a long sleeve collared tee shirt. White background with red and dark and light blue squares all over it. And also, a new pair of jeans I'd bought.

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I thought…hmm, no. No jeans. I put on some light-brown khaki pants, instead.

Anyways, I grabbed my guitar, which was inside its black leather case. I swung the strap over my right shoulder and started walking out. I was going down the elevator to the first floor, and when the doors opened, I bumped smack into my sister.

At first she didn't notice, but then she started looking at me all over. "Well, my goodness, what do we have here?" I braced for laughter. But all she did was grin.

I rolled my eyes. "All right, go ahead. Laugh. Get it out of your system. Go on. Just laugh." She just stood there, grinning and looking. And sniffing. Guess she smelled the cologne. Then she laughed and kissed me on the check. "You're growing up so much, you know." Then she ran off, and I thought I caught a tear in her eyes.

That was odd. Huh. Guess the sniff wasn't the cologne.

Anyways, I left Patty in charge, and walked outside. It was really nice outside. Partly cloudy. Around 64 degrees. Light cool breeze.

I walked down the large driveway that led to the Palace Doors, walked outside the Gates, across the street, and up to Lilia's house. I sure hoped the deodorant would do its job, 'cause I could feel the sweat ready to come.

With jittery fingers, I rang the doorbell. The door opened. It wasn't Lilia. It was her older brother Micah. He's a senior at Sauropolis High School. He's about five feet, eleven inches tall. He's got green eyes, brown hair, wide shoulders, and is in the Top Ten in his class. "Hey, Spiny, dude!"

"What's up, Micah?" I answered.

"My sister's kinda expecting you, huh?" he said, winking.

I nodded and laughed, "Yeah, you could say that."

"Come on in, then."

"Thanks."

I went inside. I should mention that they have a rather large and luxurious mansion. Not as luxurious and large as the Palace, but still. It's one those multi-million dollar places.

I went into the super-sized living room and sat down on the couch. "I'll go get my sister," said Micah.

"Oh, thanks."

He left the room and me to myself. I saw dozens of family pictures. There was one of Lilia's parents at their wedding. They got married in their mid-twenties, I think. Mrs. Woods, Lilia's mom, looked so blissful and happy in the picture. And Mr. Woods looked very elegant and, well, he looked like a guy in love. Both had huge smiles.

I was still looking at the pictures, when I heard footsteps. I turned around ready to…it wasn't her. It was Lilia's sister, Rebecca. She's a sophomore. Age: 16. Hair color: black and brown. Eyes: brown. She was about two or three inches shorter than Lilia. She came walking over to me, carrying a large, metal tray.

"Hi, Spiny," she said. I didn't exactly get thrilled at the suggestiveness in her voice. She sat down the tray on the table. "Lilia and I made you some fudge brownies and cookies."

I didn't really like Rebecca. She could get a little…I don't know. Provocative. She wasn't the beautiful and innocent Lilia. She was…well, let's just say that sometimes, she thought she was a soap opera actress.

But, it was a nice gesture on her part. And, I had to act like a gentleman. And, I have to admit she's cute in her own way.

"Oh, thanks, Rebecca." I sat back down, and grabbed a cookie.

Rebecca sat on the other end of the couch. She rested her elbow against the couch, like this…oh, right. You can't see. Anyways, she rested her elbow against the couch, and rested her head on her hand.

Then she just stared at me. I mean, she just froze. It looked like she was in a trance. I tried to ignore it.

Then, I heard the voice that makes my heart racing and sends shivers all over me. "Hi, Spiny."

I sturned around and looped. No, I mean, I stood up and turned around.

There she was…glowing with the glory of the sun, shining like the stars of the night. Her smile sparkling, her eyes…oh, her eyes, her face, her hair, her lips…getting carried away here.

I blinked my eyes, and answered. "Hi, Lilia."

She had her in braids. I think it's micro-hair headband, or something like that. She looked awful cute with her hair like that. She was wearing black jeans and a red blouse. I could barely stand to look at her.

"Well, you could stay standing there, or get on with the music lessons," said someone. I turned and saw…it was Lilia's mom. She was carrying a basket of laundry under her arm. I walked over to her and shook her hand. "Hello, Mrs. Woods. How are you?" I tried to sound as polite as I could.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Well, come on, Spiny," said Lilia, walking up the stairs.

"Can I trust you two alone up there?" said Mrs. Woods. I'm sure she was just kidding, but I don't think Lilia appreciated it. "Mom!" she said. Her face turned red. Maybe from embarrassment, but mostly anger.

I tried to smile, but I think it came out lopsided, and I felt my face burning. Anyways, Lilia walked up the stairs, and I ran up after her. Well, walked. Didn't want to drop my $800 guitar. We went to the side of the house. Or mansion. Anyways, that's where her room was.

Finally, we got to her room. It was actually kinda big. And neat. Very neat. Pink and yellow walls. Purple ceiling. White furniture. And of course, lots of mirrors. She sat down on her bed. Guess she was waiting for me to say something. "Nice room," I said. Congratulations, genius. I could've thought of something else.

"Hey, guys!" I looked at the entrance. There was Rebecca, carrying the tray. "You forgot the brownies and the cookies." She set it down on Lilia's night desk. Lamp desk. Whatever it is. The one beside the bed where you put the lamp and the alarm clock.

"Thanks," I said.

Rebecca stood beside me, smiling. And yikes, Lilia looked annoyed. I guess she was hinting for her to leave. She finally got the message and left, slowly closing the door behind her.

My heart started racing again. This was the first time I was alone in a room with a girl. In her own room. I felt uneasy. How was I supposed to act?

My deep thoughts were broken when Lilia said, "Won't you sit down?"

I looked around. There were no chairs, no seats, and no couches. She patted the spot at the end of her bed. "You can sit here." Gulp! Sit on a girl's bed? Didn't sound right. But, I did. Funny, when I sat down, the uneasiness faded down.

I cleared my throat, and readjusted my collar. "Well, why don't we start?"

She nodded.

I grabbed my guitar case, unzipped it, and took the guitar out. It was glossy and shiny from how clean it was. "That's a nice guitar," Lilia said.

I chuckled and shrugged. "Well, I try to keep it clean. Number One Rule is to keep your guitar clean."

"Keeping the dust off?" she asked.

"The dust, the mites, the Rebeccas, and of course, the Larrys."

She giggled. "Larry? What did he do?"

"Once, I caught him trying to pull off the wood to make a crate."

"Oh, wow."

Anyways, I showed her the basic guitar positions. How to handle one sitting down, while on a stool, and while standing up. All at once, she seemed eager. "Can I try it?"

I handed her the guitar, while she was still sitting down on her bed. She grabbed it all right. Handled it right. But then she said, "Could you show me?"

"I just did."

"No, but I mean, in person? Could you show me while I'm holding it?"

"Well, I…"

"Oh, please?" She was looking at me with those big, soft brown eyes. I couldn't help but smile and said, "Sure."

I sat down beside her and, well, put my arms over hers. Just so to, um, show her. You know. When I put my arms around her, trying to show her some chords, I got so close that my chin bumped against her left shoulder.

Made me jittery and tremble all over. I was about to show her how to do a C and G chord together, when she looked at me. I felt my body freeze. My mouth got dry and my palms got wet. Like the time I had to tell Robert about the, uh, facts of life, shall we say.

Anyways, she looked at me. She got so close that when she whispered, I could actually feel her words. She smiled a small smile. She blinked her eyes. What she said next would remain for me the rest of my life. "Spiny…you have the most beautiful, captivating, and dazzling blue eyes I ever saw."

My heart froze. It just froze. I felt kind of dizzy and overheated, like when you exercise too much on a hot, humid day. And I felt a pressing sensation on my stomach. I…gulp!...tried to moisturize my mouth.

I stood up quickly and ran to the window. I'd been waiting to, you know, make my move, but apparently Lilia had decided to start first. I tried to clear my head. I heard her set down the guitar and walk up to me. I felt her grab my hand. That sent electricity through my arm.

Her face was turning pink. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I guess I just lost control for a second…" she was talking fast.

My mind raced at a hundred miles per second. Not per hour. Per second. I finally thought of something to say. "Don't worry about it. I don't really mind."

She shrugged and started walking slowly to the other side of the room. Then she said, "Spiny, I invited you here because I wanted to be with you. Like this. Just the two of us. I don't really care a whole lot for music. I just wanted to be alone with you."

Huh. Guess she didn't want for me to see her face. Maybe that's why she wasn't looking at me.

I walked up to her, and grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her so I could see her face. That pretty much froze my brain. I touched her cheek with my hand. It felt so soft. A full-grown rose couldn't have been softer. As I caressed her face, she closed her eyes, and put her hand over mine.

Then it started happening again. I felt myself pulling towards her. We closed our eyes, leaned forward, and…knock! Knock! Knock!

It was Mrs. Woods' voice. "Spiny? Kathy wants you to go over to the Palace."

"Oh, uh, thanks, ma'am. I'll be right over." Then I turned to Lilia. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

I grabbed my guitar, stuffed it in its case, zipped it up, and threw it over my shoulder. "Well, I'll see you." She nodded sadly.

What happened next was a blur. Just before opening the door and leaving, I walked up to her and…well, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Then, I went running out of that house like greased lightning.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a good thing that no one else was downstairs. I was running so fast that…well, let's just say that I only run faster when there's a tornado bearing down on me.

I raced out of the house, crossed the street, got inside the gates, and ran up to the Palace doors. And the whole time I never looked back. Once, inside I slammed to door, ran upstairs so fast I thought I'd faint, bumped into Kathy, didn't even bother to say anything, and raced to my room.

I slammed my door, threw my guitar case against the wall, and plopped down on my bed.

I was so confused. Didn't know what to think or feel. Mostly I felt stupid. I felt like I'd rushed things too fast. I mean, I've known Lilia since I was seven, but even during all those centuries, I never once spoke to her. I didn't really know her.

Imagine you're a teenage girl, and the guy who's lived across the street for half your life never spoke to you and avoided you. Suddenly, he almost kisses you. Twice in the same week. I knew I'd blown it. She'd probably never speak to me again. I wouldn't blame her.

At that moment, Kathy knocked at my door. Then she opened it. "Spiny, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Well, you came in running so fast you almost busted your legs and…what happened over there?"

"Nothing happened. At least nothing you need to know about."

She closed the door behind her and sat down beside me. I was laying down on my pillow. "What happened, Spiny? You can tell me."

I sighed. "Won't tell anyone?"

"Promise."

I sighed again. "I almost kissed her on the lips. That's what happened."

I heard her gasp. "You did?"

"Uh-huh. Then I kissed her on the cheek and that's when I started running faster than Road Runner from Looney Tunes."

She nodded, obviously thinking. "How'd she react?"

"How should I know? All she said was that she loved the color of my eyes. Said they were the most beautiful shade of blue ever."

"She's right, you know."

"Oh, please! Don't start with that."

She stood up and walked around a bit. "You still going to take her to the dance?"

Funny, I hadn't thought of that. I just shrugged. "I don't think she'll ever speak to me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just do."

"You never now, Spiny. Maybe she wants it this way. Maybe she does wants to be rushed."

Then she left, leaving me to my thoughts. Maybe she was right. Or maybe not. I decided to sleep early that day.

I tried my best to dream of anything but Lilia. I mean, a guy can't spend his whole life thinking about girls.

Thankfully, I had a dream in which I had just been given a giant steak the size of a tree. Took me two months in the dream to finish it. Had to crawl around on my belly with a skateboard under me.

The next day was Saturday. I decided to sleep late. Larry insisted we go down to the Spy Room. But I practically ordered him to go without me. I slept that day until noon. I'm not kidding. Like I said before, being a King is not for anyone. It really does wear you out.

Anyways, I slept till noon that day. Oh, it was just great. I love sleep. Just to sleep in that great bed, do nothing but rest and dream, and just, you know, sleep.

I finally woke up and did my exercises. Then I went to the bathroom to splash water on my face. To wake me up faster. Then I walked out my room and downstairs. I grabbed a quick cheese sandwich and some juice.

I decided to go on down to the Lab to see what Larry had been up to. Oh, did I mention Darla also works with us? Yep. She's our Technical Assistant. Anyways, when I walked in the Lab, I saw…huh?

Larry was wearing some strange jacket. Had little white and red circles all over it. The circles were all wired to some device in Larry's hand. Motion sensors, maybe. Anyways, "Am I interrupting?" I said, walking in.

"Just in time to see Thomas Edison making his new light bulb," said Darla.

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way. I mean, I am a genius," said Larry. That's the trouble with him. He doesn't know when he's being insulted, especially with sarcasm. He seems to think everybody likes him. Oh well.

"What's with that?" I said, pointing to the suit.

"It's my 153th invention: The Boogie Suit."

I shook my head. "A what?"

"Here, I'll show you."

He handed me a…seemed like a remote control. Had a movable needle. Had different kinds of dances written on it. I pointed it to where it said Disco. I personally like disco. You know, The Bee Gees, John Travolta dance, things like that.

Anyways, I pointed the needle to that option, and he started dancing…you know…like John Travolta. Then I pointed the needle to Salsa. And he started dancing Salsa. Then to Waltz. Then to Ballad. I think you get the idea.

Anyways, I turned it off and said. "Well, I do have to admit it is pretty smart. But, aren't you going to look just a little funny? You know, wearing a jacket with all those circles and wires connected to it?"

"Already taken care of," said Darla. "He's going to spray paint them the same color as the jacket. And the wires too."

"Pretty clever, huh?" said Larry.

I nodded. "Yeah, it really is. But, what if it starts malfunctioning? I mean, you know, electrical modern gadgets are not always predictable. Remember the toaster I bought Patty a few months ago and it ended up making croutons for our salads?"

He looked off into the distance. "I thought there was something in the salads that reminded me of burnt toast."

I sighed. Darla punched him on the shoulder. "Oh, come on!"

I shrugged. "But, yeah, go ahead and try it. It's worth a shot."

I turned to Darla. "You going with someone to the dance?"

"Well, actually, I was wondering if I could just tag along you and your sisters. You know, sort of as the third wheel?"

Third wheel was not what I had thought of, but, "Sure. We can go as a group date."

"And that way, we can all dance with each other's dates."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

"Can I dance with Lilia?" said Larry.

I jumped at that. "NO! I mean, uh, that is…well, I'd just like to have her to myself, you know."

He grinned and raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

What more can I do? I just ignored him. That's the second-best way to deal with him. The best way is to beat him up real bad. Which I sincerely felt like doing, but didn't because of…well, I just didn't feel it would straighten him out.

I said to him, "Is this all you wanted to show me?"

Darla said, "Pretty much, yeah."

I nodded. "Well, then, I'll just go and work on my guitar lessons." I tried not to think about what had happened you-know-when at you-know-who's house.

I was almost inside my room, when I heard…music? From the girls' room? The door was half-way open. I peeked inside. Kathy was there…dancing to some music on her portable CD player…dancing with an over-sized stuffed Panda bear?

I knocked. She turned to me and said, "Oh, hi. What's up?"

"Um, may I ask what you are doing?"

"Oh, that." She set the bear on her bed. Then she went to turn off the music. "Practicing for the dance. I, uh, I want to be ready. Aren't you?"

I shoved my hands into my pockets. (In human form here.) Then I exhaled. "Pretty hard when I don't have any stuffed animals or a CD player."

She laughed. "Come on. Want me to teach you?"

"Sure." I mean, I did need to know how to dance.

"Now, the first thing you need to know is the beat. The drums are your cue for when to move your feet. Except for slow songs, but we'll get to that later. Anyways, you need to recognize the type of beat the song has."

She played a pop-rock with a moderate beat. "Here, look." She took my left hand and hers and put my right hand on her waist. Then she started to lead. "See, move your feet to the beat of the drums. You have to listen good at the beginning."

I tried to analyze the drums in the background of the song. One two, three. One two, three. After Kathy stepped on my a few times, probably 'cause I wasn't going fast enough, she said, "There you are. Now, just keep going. Keep going, you're doing good."

Well, I got the hang of it. Then we did a really fast one. Phew! The song was so fast, I was gasping for breath at the end.

After…gasp!...resting…choke!...for a little, she decided to play a slow one. "Gotta learn to dance those slow, romantic, dreamy ones." Let me tell you, slow ones are easy. To dance. "Now," Kathy said, "I know Lilia, and she will probably want you to more or less hold her closer." She got nearer to me and put her head on my shoulder. "Like this, okay?"

When we got done, she turned the music off, she said, "Get the idea?"

"Yeah, I got it, but I think I'm going to lose it the minute I go knock on her door."

She shook her head and laughed. "Spiny, Spiny, you need to relax. It's just a dance. It's not a fraternity event or something."

I looked down. "It's just that…well…I want to make a good impression. I get nervous around girls. I never know what to say."

She crossed her arms. "Spiny, you're talking to me."

"You're my sister."

"What about Patty?"

"She's my cousin."

"Darla?"

"She's a tomboy."

"Kylie?"

"I can't stand her!"

"Rebecca?"

"Blech!"

She exhaled. "Okay, okay. But you know, that's all practice. So you can learn how to treat a girl."

I nodded. "Guess you're right." I looked down. Sort of thinking. Then I looked back up. "Well, thanks anyways. For the dance lessons. And the suggestions." She smiled and came to hug me. "Anything for my very nervous-yet very cute brother." Then I started to leave, feeling good.


	6. Chapter 6

Oh! I'd nearly forgotten something.

I wanted to get something cleared up, right then and there. "Say, while I'm here, I'd like to ask you something. Something only a girl can answer."

Her face looked worried. "Uh, Spiny if you want to know what I think you want to know, I'd suggest you read up on our Biology and Body Functions textbooks."

HUH? "NO! Not that. Has nothing to do with that."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay." She sat down at her bed while I started pacing. That helps me think. "You just said I was cute. Yet, I've head others say I'm handsome. Like Mom? She always said I was handsome." I stopped pacing and looked at her. "What's the difference between cute and handsome in a guy?"

She looked off and bit her lip. I could tell what she was thinking. "Well…cute, physically cute, is like having a pretty face. Like you. You have a really nice face. I'm telling you as a fourteen-year-old teenage girl, not as your sister or friend."

"And, uh, what makes my face, um…"I was too embarrassed to say cute. I didn't want to sound like I was gloating.

She shrugged. "Well, your wavy blackish brown hair. Especially the way you comb yourself, with a parting at the left. And you don't have a single pimple. You've never had acne. And you have a nice smile. You always brush and floss. They're perfectly white. And straight."

"What about my eyes?"

"What about them?"

I tried to keep cool. I mean, I like fast, direct answers. "I've heard a lot of people talk about my eyes."

"Oh, nobody could miss that. Well, it's just…you have a real nice shade of blue…it's a dark blue, but it also is kind of brilliant. As if you wanted to put someone under a spell."

I blinked. "You sure?"

"Like I said, I'm saying it like a girl, not like your sister."

Then something popped in my mind. "Am I cute as…Chayanne?"

She kind of hesitated. "Ummm….."

"Forget I asked."

"No, wait! Matter of fact, I did a survey of all the 6th to 12th grade girls here in the city, and they all said you were cuter than Chayanne, Luis Fonsi, William Levy, and Jencarlos Canela put together."

That surprised me. "Excuse me? Did they say that?"

She nodded. "I promise that it's true."

Huh. Well, next question. "What about handsome? What's handsome?"

She thought again. "Handsome would be a guy or man that is…elegant. Neat. Someone who looks well when they're dressed up. Who knows how to pick formal clothes. And you are handsome because you look nice when you dress up. You're elegant. Formal."

I nodded. "Oh, I see. And is it possible to be cute and handsome?"

"You are."

"I am? How?"

"Well, you're handsome because you dress neat and you look attractive. But you're also cute because you look attractive whether your dressed formally or not. You have a pretty face."

I studied on that for a while. I looked at Kathy. My sister's played one or two jokes on me before. Just wanted to make sure. "Being honest here?"

"On my Oath as Princess of Amarkia."

Hmm. Sure a lot to think of. "Well, thanks anyways, Kath."

"Sure. You going to rest?"

"No, Larry and I are going go over some things." I thanked her again and left. Went to my room to finish going over all she'd said. I didn't take a nap. Just went to lie on my bed for a little while.

It was almost late afternoon by now. Around 3:39 pm. Like I said, Larry and I were going to go over some things. But we got tired of being inside the Palace, so we decided to go to Arnold's. It wasn't anything confidential. It was school-related.

We decided to go on our bikes for a change. As we left, I decided to go up to her house just to say hi. I went up and knocked on the door. This time, Lilia's dad, Mr. Woods answered. Like I said, he's elegant yet humble. And he's firm but also warm and caring. Gee, he reminded me lot of my dad. "Hello, sir," I said.

"Well hello, Spiny. Can I help you with something?"

"Well, not really. Just that Larry and I were on our way to Arnold's to do some school work and I just wanted to say hi to Lilia."

He smiled quickly. "Oh, sure. I'll get her." He closed the door and I waited. I waved at Larry and told him to go on. But he sat down and started reading an encyclopedia or something. Finally, Lilia came out. "Oh, hi."

"Hey, how are you?" I said, trying to sound confident.

"Oh, fine." She looked down. Uh oh. She was going to talk about when I'd…I quickly felt my face flush.

She pointed to the swinging porch couch. "Want to sit down?"

I didn't hesitate. "Sure."

We sat down. Of course, I waited for her to sit down first, then I sat down. We sat there quiet for a while, then she said. "Um, Spiny?"

"Yeah?"

She looked down at her hands. "How come you…" Uh oh. Here it came. My stomach got real sour.

"…how come you kissed me yesterday?"

I panicked. I didn't know what to say. "Oh, I…I…well…that is, uh…I, I guess I just did because I…wanted to."

She looked at me and…scooched closer to me. We were so close that our shoulders were touching. "Why did you want to kiss me?"

I looked down again. What I would have to say next would not require for me to make eye contact. If I could even say it. I felt the grip of fear tightening around my throat. I was terrified to even look at her. For one of the few times in my life, my mind drew a blank. I, I just drew a blank. My mind just went empty.

All I did was shrug. "Don't know," I said quietly.

"Lilia!" her mom's voice called.

She turned around and then said, "My mom's calling. I gotta go."

I nodded. "Okay. See you later, then?"

She nodded and smiled. "Sure. Really hoping to see you at the dance."

We both stood up and I started to leave the porch, when she called me back. I turned around and said, "Yeah?"

She walked up to me slowly and put her hand on my shoulder. "Thanks." Her voice was so sweet. Then she leaned closer and kissed me. Right next to the lips. It felt like fire on my trembling ice of skin.

It made my lips quiver, and sent hot blood rushing through my veins. Her lips were so soft, they were like…can't describe it. I just can't describe it. All I know is that my entire circulatory and respiratory systems had frozen. My hands were shaking so bad you would've thought I had severe hypothermia.

And it wasn't just a quick peck. Her kiss lasted five seconds. Then, she looked at me straight in the eyes, smiled, and then ran like crazy back to her house, slamming the door behind her.

I just stood there, looking, well staring at her house. I felt that same warm, soothing feeling in my chest. Almost numb. Then, I felt a smile spreading across my face. I touched the place where she'd kissed me. You won't believe this, but the spot on where she'd kissed me was actually quivering. I mean it! Like a tub of Jell-O.

Anyways, I walked back across the street, where Larry was still waiting. He was sitting on a rock, reading a magazine on his tablet. He had his back to me. I tapped him on the shoulder, and whoa! He almost had a heart attack. He squealed and jumped in all directions, landing right on his head.

Kind of amusing, you know.

A few minutes later, we were in Arnold's trying to decide what to do for our first big science project. We didn't know whether to make a giant volcano, or to make invisible paint.

We were looking at our science papers, when he slammed the pencil against the desk. "This science teacher kills me with this kind of homework! How are we supposed to to do this impossible work?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. I was thinking…instead of doing an actual experiment, how about we just do an essay or written work?"

He looked up. "Think it'll be more convenient?"

"Teacher didn't say we had to do an actual experiment."

He stood up. "I'll be back."

"Where you going?"

"To the restroom. The only place that's quiet and where I can concentrate on school work."

I chuckled at that. "All right. Don't take long."

Well, he left and I tried to get some idea for that science project. It was worth a lot of points.

I was lost deep in thought, figuring out how to graduate early, when someone walked into the restaurant. Someone that would receive untold "boo's" and hisses if in front of a studio audience. Yep. Kylie Anderson. She had the whole cheerleader team with her. Obviously, they all had their cheerleading uniforms. Some even had…I don't know what they're called. Those things cheerleaders wave in their hands.

Anyways, she saw me, uh, alone sitting at the booth. Should've told Larry to wait here. Or maybe I should've waited for Larry in the bathroom.

I instantly knew that I was in deep trouble, when Kylie smiled at me and her eyes sparkled. With evil charm, you might say.

The charm and the smile told me that I was trouble. When the entire cheerleading followed Kylie to my booth, and sat in the booth behind her, looking at me with dopey smiles, I knew I was really in trouble.

When Kylie's smile got bigger and she said, "Hi, charming!" I knew I was dead.

(When I say, "Oh, boy," it means I'm about to get in trouble. The longer the "Oh," the bigger the trouble will be.)

So without further ado…..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy!


	7. Chapter 7

"Why so alone?" Kylie said.

Because I have a right to be alone, you flirt! I didn't say that out loud, of course. All that came out was, "Oh, I'm not alone. I'm waiting for Larry. We're working on our science project." I pointed to the papers on the table.

Kylie made a face and said, "Oh, why bother with school? Life's too short for that, Spiny. You gotta learn to live the life."

I didn't know what to answer to that. I guess I'm better at handling nice girls than mean ones. "So, who's your date for the dance?" Kylie asked.

I answered quickly. "Oh, I asked Lilia. And she said yes." So don't even dream of going with me.

Yikes! The face she made, you would've thought someone had broken her phone. Which she claimed it was her god. "Oh, PLEAZZE! You want to go with her? Spiny, darling, you've practically hated her since you were seven! She chased you everywhere. Don't you remember?"

I felt my temper rising quickly. I tried my best not to raise my voice. "Look, Kylie. Don't even try win me over with your…ways of talking. I am going to that dance with Lilia and nothing and no one stand in between. Keep that in mind."

She laughed and said, "Oh, sure, sure. Don't worry. I won't do anything to interfere." Somehow I wasn't convinced.

She turned to the others and said, "Scram!" The other cheerleaders dispersed and went to annoy other guys in the restaurant. That left Kylie and me alone at the booth. At that moment, Larry came back from the restroom. "Say, Spiny, I was thinking…"

"Who cares?" said Kylie.

Larry gave her the eyes of steel. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

Larry sat down beside me. Then Kylie said, "Whatever! I was on my way anyway. I don't associate with social trash."

Larry turned to me. "I thought the cheerleaders associated with Kylie."

We both burst out laughing. Then Kylie's face turned red. Deep red. With hot anger. "You'll pay for this. You'll both pay for this. You'll see."

She stood up and yelled. "Let's go girls!" They all left, giving me dark glances. Sigh. I'd rather have Kylie angry at me than to be at an international concert having millions of fans crawling all over me.

Well, Larry and I finally decided to make a large diagram of an animal cell for our project. He said he was going to practice his keyboard. He plays the electric keyboard, you know. And the drums. He and I were considering forming a band with our other friends.

But I guess we never got around to it. Plus, in a band you don't just need instruments. You need singers. And I don't sing well. Maybe one of these days.

Anyways, we biked back to the Palace. Obviously, we came in view of Lilia's house. While we were entering the Palace Gates, I thought I saw a blur in front of her house, but I didn't dare to even look, much less stop to see.

Once inside, I put away my bike, and went inside up to my room and took a quick shower. When I came out, Larry was there at my desk. Well, our desk. We more or less share the room. Anyways, he was there, connecting his portable keyboard to the wall outlet. He turned it on and started playing random notes. He played a little with the sound effects and rhythm and tempo.

Then he started playing The Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. He messed up only like three times and played through the whole thing twice. "You've been practicing," I said, putting away my dirty clothes.

He looked up. "Huh? Oh yeah. I've had a little more spare time lately, and I've been able to more or less play around with this thing." He got back to his keyboard, and started going through some other tune I've never heard of.

Once in a while he invents some short twenty-second melody or mixes the beginning of one with the end of another. He's the only guy who can start playing "Row, row your boat" and end up playing "Billie Jean." Or he might start with something like "This Old Man," and end up switching to "Chopsticks."

It amazes me, really.

This is how we spend most weekend afternoons. He either listens to music or practices the keyboard. Or reads some science or social studies book. Like the CIA World Factbook. While I take a nap or read or write in my journal. Once in a while I write poetry. Not too fancy. Just regular poetry.

Anyways, it was a few days later. It was actually the day of the dance. It was around, oh, 9:25 am. It was my day for going to school. It was during the mid-morning break between classes. I was at my locker with Larry and Dimetroodon. We were just discussing what desserts to avoid when, the principal's voice sounded over the speaker system.

"Attention, all students! Just a final reminder that the School Dance is this evening from six to midnight. If you haven't already, get your dates so you won't be stuck sweeping and picking up trash afterwards. Oh, and this year, we have installed special sensors into the school's plumbing system, so we won't have another SITUATION like 7th grade. Got, that Larry?"

We both turned to look at him. He smiled feebly. "Who knew that avocado dip and chocolate would make such a thick substance on the way through the sewers?"

"Larry, you're disgusting!" I said.

"Yeah, you're disgusting!" said Dimetroodon. Then he had a worried look. "Uh oh. Speaking of which. I think I need, to, um, ah…" PFFT! Yech!

"Oh, that's disgusting!" I said.

"Oh, seriously, you need to see a doctor about that, digestive problem, shall we call it," said Larry.

Dimetroodon giggled. "Sorry. I guess fried beans and scrambled eggs aren't the best breakfast." Eww!

"But, anyways," I said, "As I was saying, I'm taking Lilia to the dance. And, on the first slow song, on the first ballad, I'll dance with her and…confess my feelings for her." That's right. You may be surprised, but, I had finally decided to tell her how I feel about her and I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend.

"Are you really decided to ask her that?" Larry said. I nodded. He shrugged. "Well, I don't understand anything about love and I personally think it's icky." Then he smiled at me. He patted me on the shoulder. "But I'm glad you've decided to take the big step and have the initiative."

"Yeah," said Dimetroodon. "I can't even look at girls. Much less talk to one or ask her to date me."

I looked at my two goofy-looking, fairly naïve, yet goodhearted friends. "Hey, I get nervous, too. But, you just need to have confidence and you know, just be sure of yourself. But, you gotta be humble. Never get too overconfident."

I had just closed my locker and was about to go with the guys to our next class when Ms. Always-Around-When-She's-Not-Wanted. She was with one of the cheerleaders. A tall, pony-tailed, red-head.

"Hey, Spiny," they both said.

I smiled. A polite smile that said "Hi, and bye, now get outta here!" Instead, I said, "How are you, girls?"

"Listen, Spiny? Can we speak to you about something?"

"Look, I already told you, I'm going to the dance with…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. This isn't about Lilia. This is not about you either. It's about, uh, someone."

I turned to Larry and Dimetroodon. "Why don't you guys go ahead and wait for me? This won't take long." I turned to Kylie and…Rachel! That's the other cheerleader's name. I looked at them and said, "This won't take long, right?" I hoped she detected the firmness in my voice.

She laughed assuredly. "Oh, no! Of course, not! Just a few minutes."

I nodded and turned back to the guys. "Go ahead and leave."

They both nodded and started leaving. "It's a pleasure to get away from…certain peoples," he said, looking at Kylie and Rachel disgustingly.

After Larry and Dimetroodon left, Kylie said to me. "Listen, since you're, you know, really high on the social mark, we were wondering if you can help us with a little problem."

I shrugged. "Sure, go ahead. What's up?"

"Well, Rachel had invited a guy to the dance. But, she changed her mind at the last minute. Now, she wants to go with someone else. How do you go about uninviting the first person and go with the new choice?"

I ran that through Data Files. That's a fancy word I use to describe my mind. Just sounds more…you know. Techy. Anyways, I ran all what she's said through my mind. Took me a little processing.

I finally came up with an answer. "Well, I'd say it was important to know who the first someone was, and also the second choice."

She thought for a little while. Then, "How about you show us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how about you play the guy who wants to dump the first girl for the second and I'll play the second one. The one whom you prefer." HUH? Somehow that didn't strike me as a good idea. I mean, I'm not a bad actor, but, people might get the wrong idea.

"Uh, well, I, uh…" I looked around to make sure nobody was… "Sure, all right."

Kylie looked at Rachel and said, "Take your phone out." She did. Then, Rachel said, "Take one of scene in which cute boy dumps uncool girl for super-cool girl. Ready? Action! Camera rolling."

I more or less stammered at the beginning. Well, I had to act right? So I said my line to Kylie. "Do you want to go with me to the dance?"

She pretended to be astonished. "Oh, Spiny! This is so sudden! But, I thought you'd invited someone else." Hmm. Hmmmm. The way she said "someone" really disturbed me.

Anyways, I said, doing my part, "Well, yeah, but I changed my mind. I don't want to go with her anymore. Now, come on, just say yes."

She did her "oh, my gosh" routine again and said, "All right. I'll go. But only, because you asked me."

"Cut!" said Rachel. She stopped the camera. "Came out perfect!" she giggled.

Suddenly, something in my mind said Get out of here. Now! You need to get away from her. FAST! I obeyed. "All right, girls! Gotta go! See you at the dance."

As I ran away as fast as my legs would take me, I heard someone say behind me, "Oh, don't worry. We will."

Something in those words made me feel a sense of…something. Dread. Mounting fear. Impending doom.

Anyways, I went to my next class. Then, during the third period break, Mrs. Maggie, the Grammar teacher asked me to take some books to the library. I said, "Sure, ma'am, anything I can do to help."

I really like Mrs. Maggie. Sure, she's got gray hair and is probably 64, and might have a short temper, lousy ears, and sleeps in the middle of teaching. But she's like a sweet, funny grandmother to me.

Anyways, to get to the library, I had to get through the cafeteria. I was going through the cafeteria. It was empty. Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I saw Lilia! Yeah, she was there.

She was just standing there, alone. Huh. She didn't look too happy. Almost hurt. Hmm. Anyways, I walked up to her and said in my most joyful voice, "Hey, Lilia. What you doing?"

She looked at me. "Spiny, is it true?"

I blinked my eyes. "What's true?"

"That…you'll be late for the dance?"

Huh? Oh, yeah! You see, Larry had told me to stop real quick at the office right before the dance, because he needed me to sign some legal form. I think it was to renew my family's life car and life insurance plans.

But I hadn't mentioned it specifically to anyone else. Wonder how she found out. I assumed Lilia knew why so I said, "Oh, yeah! That's right. I was going to tell you about it, but, um, I guess I was embarrassed." I mean, I'm not a queasy person, but like a lot of other people, I get uneasy talking about life insurance. Even with my family.

I was hoping Lilia knew what I meant, but yikes! Her beautiful eyes suddenly lit up with anger. "How could you do this to me?!"

"HUH? Lilia, what are you talking about?"

"If wanted to go with someone else to the dance, why didn't you just come to me and say so? You didn't have to go saying stuff behind my back!"

"Behind your…didn't want to…but, but, but…"

"I wish I never met you. You, you, you…imbecile!"

HUH?! I felt as if someone had hit me in the chest with a metal pole. I'd never seen Lilia angry. About anything or with anyone. I mean, I'd seen her sad sometimes. A few times I saw her cry from far away. But never angry.

"But, that's all right! Because I don't need you. I'm going with Tyrone! Have fun with your cheerleader!" Then she slammed the books out of my hand and they…OW! …landed on my foot. I was still limping ten minutes after she left.

What. Had. That. All. Been. About!

Where did she ever get the notion that I didn't want to go with her? I loved her with my heart and soul and mind. I would NEVER choose anyone over her. I mean, it just didn't make sense.

Wait just a minute! Hold it. Stop, halt! Let's think back through the events of the past six hours, shall we? Let's go through several points one by one. First, I invited Lilia to go as my date. Second, Kylie hates Lilia and vice versa worse than sin. Third, Kylie was a very sly person. Fourth, Kylie duped me into "acting" as if I had dropped Lilia as my date, even without mentioning names. Fifth, once Kylie had "evidence", she showed it to Lilia, who reacted by dropping me. Sixth, Lilia was going with the school bully, and now my new rival. Seventh, I was stuck with Kylie when I'd rather be stuck with a female Nazi spy. And eight, I don't have an eight point, but seven is plenty.

How could I have…I fell for the oldest trick in the book! I'd been duped! Framed!

I looked at the clock. It was 2:45 pm. I had around three hours to come up with something. After thinking, I came up with a solution. A short-term one, anyways. I left the books at the library and marched over to the boy's locker room, where Tyrone, most likely was.

He didn't know it, but I was about to give him the beating of his life.


	8. Chapter 8

I stomped my way to the locker room. Stomped. Marched. Every step I took made my temper rise and my fury got hotter. I changed into dinosaur form.

I could feel my tail stiffen, and my lips curling, revealing rows of deadly conical teeth. A growl began to rumble deep in my throat, and it grew into a snarl.

When I reached the room, I punched the door. Punched it hard! It slammed so hard against the wall that I heard the whole building vibrating. There was Tyrone and Larry with about ten or fifteen other guys.

Tyrone had just finished PE. I could tell, because the whole room stunk. Phew! Anyways, I came in, with a murderous glare in my eyes. My teeth were showing, and I was still growling. I could feel my giant claws contracting, begging to dig into his flesh.

"YOU!" I yelled at him.

He looked confused. "Yeah, it's me. Who'd you think I was, King Louis XVI?"

I walked up to him. "When I'm finished, you'll wish you were Napoleon Bonaparte."

His eyes flashed. "What are you babbling about?"

"You know darn well. You're taking MY girl to the dance, and thanks to you, I got stuck with the school's Female Nuisance."

His eyes lit up again. "Oh, is that all?"

"IS THAT All?!" I couldn't control it anymore. Maybe it wasn't such a big deal for him, but it was for me. "All right, you asked for it. Come on, put 'em up!" I showed my fists.

He shrugged and put up his fists. Suddenly, the whole room was filled by voices saying, "Fight, fight, fight, fight…"

We faced each other for several tense seconds. Then, Dimetroodon walked in. He went over to Larry and said, "What's going on here?"

"Oh, can't you see they're about to fight? What are you, blind or something?"

"I know they're about to fight, stupid! What I mean is why are they fighting?"

"Ohhh. Well, it all started last week when Spiny asked Lilia to the dance." And he told the whole story up until that moment. "And that's why they're fighting."

Tyrone and I were still looking at each other. We hadn't even pinched each other. Then he said, "Well, go ahead, Mr. Prettyface! Start!"

"Start? What am I, a car?" When you're in the heat of anger, you don't usually make much sense, but what was I supposed to do.

I was about to beat the liver out of him, when the bell rang. Boy, you should've seen the way all those boys stared at me. Just waiting for us to strike. We were about to when all at once, Dimetroodon stepped in between us. "Wait, wait, wait! What are you doing?! You think punching and hitting will solve your problems? What are you, cavemen? You should be ashamed!"

That room was so quiet, you could've heard a dust particle fall on the floor. All right, maybe I did get a little hasty. Dimetroodon turned to all the other boys and said, "All right, all right, people. Go on, let's go. Get out of here. Nothing to see here. Go on!" Everyone left, leaving me in the room with Tyrone, Larry, and Dimetroodon.

I sat down on the bench in the middle of the room. "I'm sorry, Tyrone. I guess I just got…a little forward. Maybe I just have a jealous streak, you know?"

"Ah, don't worry," he said. He started taking clothes out of his locker. "I mean, I don't even think your Lilia's my type."

That hit me. "HUH? You mean, you're not interested in her?"

He shook his head. "Ah, no. I mean, she's you know sweet, and soft, but that doesn't fit with me."

I sighed. "I wonder what I can do to win her back."

Larry sat down beside. "Well, come on. Let's think hard."

"Well, look at this way," said Tyrone. "The school dance is to have fun and make new friends. That's all."

"Yeah, I guess you're…" I couldn't finish the sentence. He was throwing stuff out of his locker, and he threw his black sports shirt and it landed on my head. Blech! It stunk so bad it had flies and green fumes coming off it.

"Oh, that stinks!" I quickly pushed it away from me. "Here, have my deodorant," I said, handing it to him.

He looked at it. "What are you insinuating? That I smell bad and need to smear this all over my body?"

I stood up and walked up to him. "Yes, that's what I'm insinuating! You gotta a problem with that?!"

"Of course I have a problem! Come on, put 'em up!" Well, here go again with the fists. Larry stepped between us. I guess he was about to lecture us too, but we didn't listen.

What happened next was entirely predictable. I swung a punch at Tyrone, but, um you might say that Larry happened to be in the way. KA-POW! Got him in the left jaw, making spin to the right.

Tyrone tried to hit me, but he also punched Larry, this time in the right jaw, making him spin to the left. I hit back. Tyrone hit back. Then I did. Then he did. What ended the fight was not victory by either part. It was when Larry fell backwards on the tile floor. Oops! I guess, he'd been, um, in the way. The whole time.

Oh, he was all right. Just a little, um, bruised. Maybe a few minor cuts here and there.

Well, anyways, I left. I was feeling mighty low, mighty blue. I was ashamed at myself for falling for Kylie's trick. I mean, any idiot would've figured it out. I know you probably would. You would, wouldn't you?

Anyways, I was ashamed of myself. But I was also, well, outraged. I was angry at Kylie for ruining my blossoming relationship with Lilia. I was angry at Lilia for not listening to me and jumping to conclusions. And angry at myself for allowing myself to be duped and framed.

I went home, showered, changed, did my homework, then went down to the office to sign those insurance renewal forms. Larry and William picked up Patty and Kathy after I left. Robert and Greeny went with our Royal Doctor and his family to go watch a movie and go bowling. And obviously, Tyrone picked up Lilia.

After all that, it was 6:30 pm. I was pacing back and forth in my office, my new suit freshly pressed. I had thought of everything and tried everything, but I had found no solution. I was still trying to think of new ideas, when the intercom buzzed. "Yes?" I said.

"Spiny, there's a young lady here to see you."

I got excited! Maybe it was Lilia! "Be right there."

I ran out the office, ran up the stairs, jumped through several hallways and doors, got to the lobby and…prayed that the Earth open up and swallow me into a pit of magma. It wasn't her. It was her rival.

She had a black dress with a small pink scarf around her…neck, obviously. She a bow in her hair and was wearing nine tons of make-up. She looked like a zombie. Oh, and did I mention high heels? Yes, sir. The highest heels that exist in the market.

She ran up to me, and grabbed my shoulder. "You look super-cute, cupcake!" Yeah, so cute I feel like throwing up.

I tried to cool my fury. I breathed deep. "Thanks."

"Well…shall we go? Dance won't go without the school Princess and Her Date."

HER?! The school princess? Ha! HA! HA! I wanted to laugh. To gloat. Right in her face. I felt so much like pulling her hair until she was even balder than Fal.

I did my best to put those violent thoughts out of my mind. I "walked" her to TIV. Not happily. I only opened the door for her because it weighs more than two hundred pounds. Anyways, I drove to the school. We arrived at around 7:15. The place was packed, the decorations were in place, the food and fruit punch was out, and the music was playing.

Let me tell you something, dear reader and amigo. Or amiga. I was mi-se-ra-ble. Miserable. There was Larry, Dimetroodon, Darla, Kathy, and Patty all standing by the fruit punch. Kylie said she'd go to look something to eat fit for a handsome young king.

I quickly took advantage of that to run over to join The Gang. That's what I call Kathy, Patty, Larry, Darla, Dimetroodon, and Rudy. Except Rudy wasn't there. He goes to another school.

I walked up to them. They were laughing about something. I didn't know and didn't care to find out. They all looked at me.

Larry said, "What's up, dude?"

Kathy said, "Well, my, it's Mr. Heartthrob."

"Aw, shut up!" I said. I shoved my hands into my pockets and looked down.

"Oh, you mean…" Darla pointed to Kylie who was talking with other cheerleaders.

I nodded. I wanted to cry. I actually wanted to cry. Then I turned to look and…there she was. My love. She was wearing a bronze-colored, knee-long dress. She'd combed her hair to one side. Her beautiful light brown-hazel eyes shone so wonderful. I felt my heart flutter…then I felt it sink when Tyrone appeared.

But he wasn't even close to her. First thing he did was to go start stealing the other kids' food. Lilia waved at Kathy. Kathy waived back. Lilia walked over to us. I felt too ashamed. Too humiliated. I walked away to the other end of the table and stood there, looking away. I heard them chat a little.

I was playing around with a bowl of chocolate pudding, when I suddenly heard the chatter die down. I looked and everyone had left except Lilia. She was standing about four feet from me, also looking uncomfortable and fidgeting.

Come on, Spiny. It's now or never. I looked up to her. She was looking down. And if I'm not mistaken, I saw her eyes get foggy. I…took a deep breath, and hoped what I said next would come out as I wanted to.

"Lilia, look, I have to tell you…"

She looked up quickly. "We don't have anything to talk about, Spiny."

Ouch. That hurt. It really did. I felt like someone had dropped a brick on my head. I turned away again. I felt my throat closing up and my eyes got watery.

I exhaled again, wiped my tears, and looked back at her. I wasn't going to let it go. "Look, Lilia. I am going to say something. I don't know how this all happened. I would never go to this dance with anyone else besides you."

She looked at me. "Go on."

"I didn't want to come with Kylie. I wanted to come with you."

Her eyes brightened, ever so slightly. Then, a slow, romantic ballad started playing. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I saw a heart-shaped disco drop down from the ceiling. I don't remember what the song was.

I looked at Lilia. "Would you dance with me? Please?"

She nodded. I took her hand in mine, leading her to the dance floor. I put my other hand on her waist and she put her other hand around my shoulder. Then we started dancing to the slow music.

"Spiny?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"If you weren't going to dump me as your date, why did say you were going to be late?"

I sighed. "I was going to be late, because I needed to attend some business at my office. That's why."

She stayed quiet, meaning that she'd probably believed me.

"Lilia."

She looked up. "Yes?"

"I wanted to dance this one with you because I wanted to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to tell you that I…that is…well, if it's all right with you…if you would like to be my g…"

Talk about worst timing. Guess who arrived. Yep. Kylie. She pushed Lilia away from me, and threw her arms around my neck. "Oh, thanks for taking care of him, Lilia. Now, do just like mosquitos do, and get outta here! Now!"

Lilia walked away, looking extremely hurt.

"Wait, Lilia!" I was about to go after her, but Ms. Never-Satisfied-With-Anything got in my way and started dancing.

At that moment, Patty appeared behind her. She crept up to her and…poured green slime down her back! Ha ha ha! Oh, I wish you could've seen it. Oh, it was so great! Kylie shrieked, and looking magenta, ran out of the dance room.

I looked at Patty and ran up to hug her. "Thanks."

She smiled at me. Then, patting my on the shoulder, she said, "Now, go get your girl!"

I was in the process of searching when…out of nowhere a strange object came flying and landed in the fruit punch bowl. Then I saw…sparks? Coming from the dance floor?

I looked and…oh my gosh! Larry and Kathy were…they we're being electrocuted! I ran up Larry. "What's going on?!"

In a not-so-normal tone of voice, "T-th-the-the-the c-c-c-c-con-contr-control!"

"Huh? What control?"

"I-in th-the f-f-f-fruit punch!"

I ran over to the fruit punch. The control that Larry had invented for his dancing suit! Somehow it had ended in the punch. Maybe that's what I saw flying by. And when it landed in…well, what happens to anything electrical that lands in liquids? Yep. Sparks.

I grabbed the control and, ouch! Got a shock.

I dropped it on the floor and…BOOM! A huge explosion of sparks. Made me fall back on my head. Let me tell you something, that floor is hard! But that wasn't the worst. The control had exploded, right? It was connected to the suit, right? So it's only logical to conclude that the suit also went BOOM!

And that's exactly what happened. Larry looked like a scar on a tree struck by lightning. And Kathy…well, her hair was up and in all directions, shall we say. With little electric impulses still going off of it.

What happened next was entirely and completely unpredictable. Kathy grabbed by the tail, swung him around like a lasso, and sent him flying to the northeast at point blank range at a speed of three hundred inches per second.

CRASH! He hit the the wall with his nose and landed on two students, a plate of food, and banged his arm against the floor and a big fat dinosaur kid landed right on it. CRUNCH! Sounded like a whole of celery stalks.

I'd never seen so much screaming since a friend of mine told his wife that his mother was going to their house for dinner.

Anyways, it was quite a sight, let me tell you. Hadn't seen anything funny since…something extremely embarrassing happened to someone I know. I won't discuss it. Sorry, but I won't.

Well, as you might assume, I managed to get Larry out of there and to a hospital.

A few hours later, around 9:30 or so, I was already going through the dessert. Triple chocolate fudge cake and ice cream. I'd danced with Patty, Darla, with two cheerleaders, and about three other girls.

So, there I was, going through the dessert, trying to get a piece of cake which had extra fudge before someone else did, when I felt someone tapping my left shoulder. Or maybe it was my right. Who cares!

Anyways, I turned and...ah, never mind. It wasn't anyone. It was Kylie. "Come on, let's dance, sweetie."

I'd rather get a shot right under the heart I thought. "Uh, no thanks, Kylie. I'm exhausted. My legs won't serve me anymore except to climb into my bed. I'm really tired."

She insisted. I HATE insistent girls. "Come on. Before Ms. Weed comes and takes you again." Weeds. I hated it that she called Lilia. I'd had it with Kylie. I'd played Mr. Nice-Guy, and look at all the trouble it's gotten me into.

So, just for a few seconds, I decided to play Mr. Mean-Guy. Heh heh. I pointed to the door behind Kylie and said, "Hey, look. There's Chris Prine!"

Whoa! You should've seen the way Kylie's eyes widened. They got as big as plates. Empty plates. She squealed in delight and turned around. "Where?!"

While she was looking away, I...hee hee…took the fruit punch and…ha ha ha…took the bowl over her head and delivered about 2 quarts of fruit punch on her head.

Oh! You should've seen the way she looked. It was too good. I was laughing so hard I might've needed stiches, because I was just falling to pieces. The way she looked at me, I thought she'd kill me.

When I finally stopped laughing, I stood up and said, "And that's what you get for making me lose a potential girlfriend! Next time I won't let you off so easy."

She muttered something under her breath. Then, with about a hundred students pointing and snickering, she marched out of the room.

Anyways, I was about to laugh again with a cup of coke when I turned and saw…oh no. Lilia. I braced myself for another round of "no's" and yelling.

But all she said was, "Spiny…" The way she said it made me think that she wanted me to more or less her sentence. She did want to talk to me.

"Lilia…" I said, taking a step closer to her. I took a deep breath and finally said it. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

A tense silence lingered. Like on a battlefield when the two sides arrive and see each other from the distance. That tense moment just before the battle begins and they begin running towards each other.

She looked down and said, "No."

My lungs closed up and I felt my heart cracking and bleeding. "No?"

"Well, Spiny, all these things that happened made me think over it all. And, well, I think you're cute and really nice and I'm sure you're a great guy."

I waited for her to keep going. She said, "But, we don't really know each other. I mean, we've lived across the street from each other for 5,600 years, but we never really talked. We never got to be friends. So, I'd feel better if we got to know each other first."

I should've felt bad. But I didn't. I smiled and said, "Yeah, you're right. I think that we do need to know each other first." I stuck out my hand. "Friends?"

She nodded and smiled. "Friends." She put my hand aside and hugged me.

Well, a short while later the party ended and we all left. I managed to sneak away some cake and ice cream for Robert and Greeny.

I drove Lilia to her house. All we said was a casual goodbye. Patty was sitting behind the passenger seat. As you might recall, her, uh, date suffered a terrible accident and was incapacitated to drive. Kathy was also there, but she was asleep.

I stayed there in Lilia's driveway for a little while longer. I'd told Patty what had happened. Especially about the part where Lilia asked me to be just her friend. "Well," Patty said. "Maybe it's better that way. For both of you."

"Yeah, I know," I said, looking out the windshield. "But I'm not sure I'll be able to make myself like her only as a friend."

Patty shrugged. "Well, you never know. Maybe deep down, she wants to be your girlfriend, too. But, like she said, you don't know each other too well, even after all these years."

I grunted. "If only I'd paid attention to her when they first moved in."

"Don't blame yourself for what happened in the past. Think of the future. You never know. Maybe you two will end up couple."

I shrugged. "Who knows?"

I started TIV's engine and drove out of Lilia's driveway, across the street, through the Palace Gates and parked out in front of the doors. We all stepped inside and up to change into our PJ's. Robert and Greeny asked for permission to stay over at their babysitter's place. They've got two kids they're age. Respectively.

Anyways, I went to bed thinking about all that had happened.

Well, you know, this life can sure trick you. Like I said, handling all the responsibilities I have isn't easy. Ruling a country, raising a family, doing school work, home chores, and well, being a teenager.

It takes great courage, iron discipline, self-confidence, determination, perseverance, lots of patience, and a sense of constant responsibility, trustworthiness, and love for all those you care for.

But you also learn to enjoy life. You get friends, family, admirers, acquaintances, and you learn to have fun and a sense of humor. You have so many unforgettable experiences and meet all sorts of great people. You discover, explore, and adventure. But that's what makes each of us who were are?

Don't you think so?


End file.
